Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 65: A New Second in Command

Rude groaned softly and nudged what the cafeteria menu alleged was sautéed spinach away from the rest of his lunch, effectively banishing it to the far side of his plate. It didn’t go willingly, leaving a trail of green slime in its wake.

“It could be worse. Remember the carrots they were serving last week?” Cissnei pointed out.

“Remember them? I’m still having nightmares about them,” the bald rookie deadpanned. The young woman snickered and stabbed her fork into today’s rendition of tuna casserole.

“How can a company as powerful as Shinra fail so completely at the relatively simple task of feeding its employees?” Rodney groused.

“Ugh… if yeh ever figure that’un out, let me know,” Sato interjected as he carried his own plate over to their table and took a seat across from Rude. Saya joined him a moment later and slid into the chair next to the rookie.

“Hmph… I don’t know how any of yeh can eat with Reno in the hospital. I don’t suppose yeh’ve heard anything yet?” she asked, pointedly looking at Rude. He shook his head.

“Oh, quit yer worryin’,” Sato replied. “Not like the kid got hurt or anything. Just a little appendectomy. They do a million of ’em every day. ‘Sides… first one they’re gonna contact is Remy, innit? Tseng named her his guardian while he’s gone. Go ‘n pester her fer awhile.”

“The last person I want ta pester right now is Remy. Poor thing’s completely overwhelmed tryin’ ta learn how ta do Tseng’s job on the fly. I dinna think she quite knew what she was in fer. He always made it look easy,” his cousin replied, before lifting a forkful of the spinach to her mouth and taking a bite. She immediately grimaced and spat it into a napkin. “Ugh! That’s absolutely foul!”

The table collectively snickered at her reaction, and those who hadn’t already done so quickly pushed their own servings of the vegetable of the day off to one side.

“Oughta send Rude here inta the kitchen…” Sato commented, “Might actually get somethin’ edible fer once.”

“Edible? From what I hear tell, we’d have a bloody gourmet lunch fer a change,” Saya laughed, wrapping an arm around the rookie in question. Rude couldn’t help but blush slightly at the compliment.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Cissnei said, glancing up at her fellow rookie.

“… I’m okay at it,” he mumbled in reply.

“That’s not how Reno tells it,” Sato snickered. “Accordin’ ta him, yer the best chef in Midgar.” He paused for a moment in thought. “‘Course that kid’ll eat damn near anything yeh put in front of him… ‘n then ask yeh fer a bite o’ yers ta boot… so I’m not sure that’s really the best endorsement yeh could get.”

“Just don’t ask Reno ta cook for yeh,” Saya chuckled, shaking his head, “Rude’s got first-hand experience with that…”

The rookie groaned softly at the memory.

“Don’t remind me…”

“Not ta spoil the mood,” Sato suddenly said, his tone going serious, “but have any of yeh got any word on the situation with Wutai? Fer Titan’s sake, we’re framin’ ’em fer blowin’ up a train station. And they were goin’ to drop half the city onta the other half.”

Rude nodded. “I over heard Veld talking to Remy earlier. Shinra will be issuing a ultimatum later today. Surrender, or Shinra will attack.”

“How long do yeh think we’ve got?” Saya asked her cousin, who simply shrugged.

“Dunno. We could be at war tamorrow… Could be a month from now. S’pose it depends on how willin’ they are ta negotiate. Shinra dunnae want a war, fer sure… but they’ll not back down from one, neither.”

“Why should we negotiate?” Rodney asked. “They started it. The only reason Sector 5 isn’t a smoldering heap is because we beat them to the punch. Barely. If they want to fight us, I say we let them.”

“Because, genius,” Cissnei replied, “Shinra wants to make a profit. War is expensive. If we can avoid it and get to build a new reactor in Wutai as a concession, that would be an ideal outcome for all involved.”

“She’s right yeh know,” Saya agreed. “Shinra’ll use the attack as leverage. Give us what we want, or we’ll decimate yeh. Only real question is… how bad does Wutai want a fight?”

Silence fell at the table after that proclamation. No one really knew what else to say.

---

The grogginess of the drugs was finally starting to wear off a bit. He wasn’t quite sure how long he’d been awake. Not that long, he didn’t think. Long enough to figure out where the hell he was and remember why he was there, anyway. Ward had been in, briefly, when he’d first come around… but he’d drifted off at some point, and when he woke again, she was gone.

Reno shifted slightly in the bed and winced. His side still hurt. It was different from before, though. Before, it had been an excruciatingly sharp, stabbing pain emanating from deep inside that, when it was at its worst, took his breath away. Now it was more of a throbbing, raw ache, as though he’d been sliced open.

Which, he belatedly realized, he had been.

The redhead raised a hand and cautiously prodded the thick layer of gauze that had been taped over the incision. It hurt… and he quickly decided that it was probably in his best interest to just leave it the hell alone. The door to his left opened, and he turned his head, expecting to see Dr. Ward returning. Instead, he found himself looking at yet another very attractive nurse.

He managed a sleepy grin. This one was blond. He’d always had kind of a thing for blonds.

“Hi there,” she said softly, “How are you feeling?”

Reno shrugged. “Tired… Kinda sore, I guess.”

The woman picked up the chart from the end of his bed and looked it over.

“Well… it looks like you’re due for some pain medication in just a few minutes, so that should help a bit with that,” she said, smiling warmly. “In the mean time, is there anything I can get you? Another blanket? Some water? I’m afraid you can’t have any food just yet, but liquids are fine.”

“How ’bout your phone number?” he asked.

“Nice try, but I think you’re a little too young for me,” the nurse laughed, “Besides… I’m married.”

“Tch… figures.”

“I’ll go see about that pain medication for you,” she said, shaking her head in amusement.

Reno settled back against the pillows and watched her go. He yawned slightly and let his eyes close. He was getting drowsy again… He’d probably end up falling asleep pretty soon, medicated or not. And he just didn’t have it in him right now to fight it. Besides… it wasn’t as if there were any reason to force himself to stay awake anyway. He was on his own for now. Plus, he hadn’t been kidding about being sore. More sleep sounded pretty damn good at the moment.

He was only dimly aware when another doctor came into his room and approached his bed a few minutes later. Reno was out like a light again by the time the man had finished administering the medication.

---

Remy breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she signed her approval on the last requisition form. She’d had to work through lunch, and had been interrupted any number of times in the process… but it was done. Finally. They just had to be turned into the General Affairs Department’s budget office before three that afternoon. Done with over an hour to spare. She leaned back in her chair intent on spending a few minutes in restorative meditation…

… which of course was apparently the cue for her PHS to start ringing.

She sat up and reached across the desk, grabbing it… and silently hoped that it was Tseng, returning her earlier call. He hadn’t answered when she’d tried to notify him of Reno’s surgery, so she’d resorted to leaving a voicemail. She had intended to try him again later… mostly because the rookie had seemed so concerned about him being informed… but had gotten so bogged down in requisitions and reports and dealing with all the other minutia that kept the Turks functioning, it had entirely slipped her mind.

A part of her also wished he would call so she could ask him how in the nine hells he managed to make juggling all of this look so effortless… even though she knew for certain that she would never dare venture such a question. That would be akin to admitting she didn’t know what she was doing. She… just had to find her rhythm. That was all. Eventually it would all start to fall into place.

Remy shook her head and noted the caller ID on the phone. It wasn’t Tseng, but she quickly answered, nonetheless.

“Remy here. How is he?”

“Out of surgery and recovering,” Dr. Ward’s voice replied, “He did just fine. He’s been awake, but he’s still a wee bit out of it from the anesthesia. We’ll keep him here for observation overnight, but baring any complications, he should be able ta go home in the morning.”

The Turk breathed another sigh of relief. Not that she’d been overly concernedabout something as commonplace as an appendectomy… but it was still a a weight off her shoulders to know that the rookie was doing well, and one less item on her list of things to worry about was always a good thing.

“How long will he be out on medical restriction?” she asked.

“Two weeks, or so, I’d say… but he does tend ta heal fairly quickly, so he might yet surprise us. I do want him on bed rest for the next two ta three days, though… not that he’s likely ta want ta be up ‘n about right away ta begin with. He’ll need someone checking in on him regularly until he’s up ta moving around more on his own.”

“Understood,” Remy replied, making a mental note of the instructions. A knock on her office door pulled her attention away from the call momentarily, and she suppressed yet another groan. What now? “I’m afraid I need to let you go, Doctor. Please keep me up to date.”

“Aye, I will.” Ward replied.

Remy ended the call and set the phone back on the corner of her desk.

“Yes? Come in,” she called out. The door opened, and she caught sight of Rude. This time, she didn’t quite manage to hold back the groan. “Your helicopter certification…” she breathed. She’d forgotten. Maybe she should have moved it to this morning rather than sending him off with the other rookies after he’d taken Reno down to Medical, after all.

“… Is this a bad time?” Rude asked. She sighed and shook her head.

“No… It’s fine. I just seem to have gotten a bit… behind… today. That’s all.” The certification exam would take at least an hour. Reno would certainly be fully awake by then. She had intended to be there when he was lucid enough to realize he had visitors. She knew that Tseng always tried to be when one of the rookies was hurt…

“Have you heard anything about Reno?” the younger Turk asked.

“Oh… yes, actually. The surgery is done and he’s in recovery now.”

“… Are you going to go check on him?”

Remy sighed. “I had planned to… but your test…”

“We can put it off,” Rude said, shaking his head. “Can I come with you? Tres already planned on not needing me for awhile, and Luca canceled the afternoon sparring session for the others. He’s got more to do down in interrogation than he thought.”

Remy hesitated a moment. Moving the certification exam would put her even more behind than she already was, and who knew what else was going to be thrown at her with war virtually imminent any second now. But then again, it would let her check on the rookie… and she’d made a promise to Tseng. There had been very little that he was adamant about when she and Veld had gone to see him before he left for Wutai… his thoughts had largely been elsewhere… but he’d been insistent that she look after the redhead for him. And she had sworn that she would, to the best of her ability.

At last, she nodded.

“Alright. You can come,” she replied.

---

Remy and Rude arrived in the recovery ward of Midgar General in the midst of what appeared to be some sort of minor calamity. Several doctors and nurses were rushing to and fro, and there was a palpable sense of urgency in the air.

“What in Titan’s name… ?” a voice behind them said, and Rude turned to see Dr. Ward striding down the hallway, shaking her head, “I leave that little troublemaker alone for fifteen minutes…”

She brushed past the two Turks and headed straight into a room a little further down… which seemed to be the epicenter of the disturbance. Rude glanced over at Remy for a moment, and then the two of them simultaneously set off after her in concern.

“Keep him still! He’ll tear out the stitches if he keeps moving around like that!” one of the doctors demanded, as the pair of them pushed into the room, and Rude’s eyes widened at the sight that greeted him. Two rather burly orderlies had the slender redhead pinned to the bed. Tangled in the sheets though he was, Reno was still ineffectively trying to fight his way free.

“… Can’t… can’t breathe…” the redhead wheezed, drawing in rapid half-breaths as he struggled. For a brief moment, Rude locked eyes with his friend, and he could see the absolute terror that had seized him. “Let go… Let me up!”

The rookie was torn between letting the doctors do their job, and rushing to his friend’s aid to pry them the hell off of him. It was more than obvious that Reno absolutely didn’t want to be restrained… but it was just as obvious that something was very, very wrong. His breathing was labored, and sweat dotted his brow. And when he did manage to speak, it was with a disturbingly weak voice. If anything, the redhead looked far worse than he had that morning… and he’d looked pretty bad then, in Rude’s opinion.

“EVERYONE OF YEH… FREEZE!” Ward shouted in so loud a voice that even Remy jumped in fright. It seemed to have much the same effect on everyone else as well.

“Yeh and yeh,” she continued, pointing at the orderlies as she stormed up to them, “Let go of my patient this instant. Yer just making it worse…”

They grudgingly obeyed, and Reno immediately latched onto Ward’s arm as though it were a lifeline, still breathing in shallow, ragged gasps.

“As fer the rest of yeh, which of yeh idiots ignored the note in his chart that very plainly said no narcotics?!” the woman demanded angrily, while at the same time, gently rubbing the redhead’s back in an effort to calm him down. One of the younger staff members hesitantly took a step forward and Ward glared at him. “Yeh and I will be having a wee talk later. All of yeh, out. This isn’t a code… this is a panic attack. Just give him a bit of space and he’ll be fine.”

The medical team filtered back out of the room, leaving Ward and the three Turks on their own.

“Of all the irresponsible, idiotic things ta do…” she said, shaking her head in disgust as she held the redhead protectively. “Shh… Yer alright. Nice slow breaths, now, Reno…”

The ailing rookie coughed faintly and curled in on himself.

“Is he alright?” Remy asked, making her way over to the bed. Rude was quick to follow. Though he didn’t look quite so terrified now, Reno was still clearly suffering from the effects of… whatever the hell had happened.

“He’ll be fine. Just needs ta calm down a wee bit. If this doesn’t start ta improve in a few minutes, I’ll get him a mild sedative so he can sleep it off… but I’d rather not. He’s had more than enough drugs in his system for one day.” She scowled, shaking her head again, “Bloody interns! His chart is very clear on what he can and can’t have. I bloody well made sure of it after the last time this happened. Yeh can rest assured I’m not going ta just let this matter drop. It was absolutely unforgivably negligent! They’re bloody lucky it wasn’t an allergic reaction, or something more serious.”

The redhead somehow managed a faint laugh.

“Doc… I’m really glad I’m not the one that pissed ya off. You’re fuckin’ scary when you’re mad…”

“Ah… feelin’ a bit better, are yeh?” Ward asked, as she gently laid him back down on the bed.

“… Kinda. Not really. Still feel pretty weird.”

“Mmm… That’ll be the painkillers, I’d wager. It’ll be awhile yet before they wear off.” At the expression of distress that declaration was met with the doctor sighed. “I think I’ll get yeh that sedative after all. Better than yeh being stuck layin’ here for hours, tryin’ ta keep yerself from going inta another episode…” She patted him on the head and stood up, turning to the other two Turks. “I’ll be back in minute. Just keep the poor thing calm.”

Remy nodded and settled into the chair next to Reno’s bed while Rude took up a position behind her.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Tch… like someone decided to kick me in the fuckin’ chest. Right after they stabbed me in the side ‘n gave me the worst nightmare I’ve ever had,” the rookie muttered. He shifted to a slightly more comfortable position, wincing as the movement aggravated his injured side. “I don’t like that shit they gave me… I don’t feel right.” He glanced up at Remy. “Did you tell Tseng I was, ya know… here?”

The senior Turk looked down somewhat awkwardly. “I did call him… but I only got his voicemail,” he replied, before hurriedly assuring him, “I left a message, though. I’m sure he’s just… busy. With the funeral and everything. He’ll call just as soon as he gets that message.”

“… Yeah,” the redhead sighed. Rude frowned, but said nothing. He had a pretty good idea what his friend was thinking. And it made him angry. Not at Reno… at Tseng. Of course he understood that the man was grieving… but he was also pointedly ignoring the family he still had left. It was almost cruel… especially where someone like Reno was concerned.

Ward chose that moment to return, however, and Rude knew from the determined look on her face that their brief visit was coming to an end.

“Alright…” the doctor said, as she stabbed a needle into the IV that was connected to the rookie’s arm, “I’m not going ta give yeh too much. Just enough ta take the edge off. But yer probably still tired enough that yeh’ll start ta feel sleepy again anyway.” She glanced at the other two Turks. “As for yeh two, I’m cutting visiting hours short taday. I think he’s had enough excitement.”

“I’ll check in again later,” Remy assured him, before getting up. Rude smirked slightly and ruffled his friend’s hair.

“Try and stay out of trouble for once.”

“Tch… fuck off,” the redhead replied, swatting his friend’s hand away with a yawn. The pair trailed the doctor into the hallway, leaving the rookie behind to sleep. Remy paused and turned to Ward.

“Would you mind explaining to me what exactly that was?” she asked, voicing the question Rude very much wanted to have answered as well. He’d been half-convinced Reno was dying for moment there.

“That was a drug induced panic attack,” Ward replied, “It’s happened once before. We found out the last time he was here that he’s a bit sensitive ta narcotic painkillers. Which I thoroughly documented and noted in his records. It probably didn’t help that he seems more than slightly upset over Tseng taking off, as well. He’ll be fine, don’t yeh worry.”

“… so it was all in his head?” Rude queried, and he couldn’t help but feel slightly miffed about that. He’d really thought something was wrong.

Dr. Ward fixed him with an angry stare.

“Don’t yeh dare go writing it off like that,” she said, prodding him roughing in the chest with her index finger, and had he not been a little terrified himself all of a sudden, the picture painted by the aging physician laying into a Turk nearly twice her size might have made him laugh. Dr. Ward, however, didn’t seem to find the situation the least bit amusing, however. “Yeh might try showing yer friend there a wee bit of compassion! It might not have been a deadly reaction, but yeh can be sure he certainly felt as though it was! A panic attack’s nothing ta laugh at, unless yer feeling cruel. It’s pure fear… most times with no idea where it’s coming from or what yer even afraid of,” she continued, narrowing her eyes at him, “It’s even worse for Reno, if yeh ask me. Most people, once they’ve come out of it, will be a wee bit on edge for awhile, but otherwise fine. His anxiety is being triggered by medication… which means he’s stuck in that state until said medication wears off!”

Rude backed off, chastised, and promptly shut his mouth. Ward seemed satisfied enough by the reaction, and he was glad. Reno was right… the woman was downright scary when she was pissed off.

“Will this affect his discharge?” Remy asked, and the doctor shook her head.

“I doubt it. Once it’s out of his system, he’ll be back ta normal. Unless we start seeing complications from the operation, he can go home ta rest in the morning.”

“Good,” the senior Turk breathed. “Please let me know when you’re ready to let him leave.” At Ward’s nod of acknowledgment, she looked over at Rude. “Come on. We should get back to the office. If nothing else has come up we might still be able to get to your pilot’s certification today.”

Rude nodded and with a quick wave to the doctor, followed her to the elevator. As they rode it down, Remy snuck a quick glance at her watch… and made a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a wail.

“Oh, no… It’s after three! I never turned in the requisition forms!”

~end chapter 65~